


Halloween is Sickening

by mxstmxstly



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is mentioned, Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Lance, Gay Keith, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, Little bit of blood, M/M, Sickfic, There is little to no plot, This fic is dumb, asexual Keith, could this fic have been written as a 3k word oneshot?, do i care? no, it's primarily bfs being good to each other, lance has a bad halloween and keith is a good boyfriend, lance's family is in this, literally the most dramatic slice of life you could get, little bit of swearing, matt is also mentioned, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-02 10:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12724959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxstmxstly/pseuds/mxstmxstly
Summary: Lance wakes up on his favorite holiday with a fever and, due to his insane amount of luck, his bad day begins to grow worse and worse. Keith is a good boyfriend and doesn't want Lance's Halloween to suck.





	Halloween is Sickening

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've actually ever posted online?? (I do not count one direction fics from when I was twelve. That was a dark time). It's also been sitting in my drive for a month and I meant to post it on Halloween, but wanted to actually finish it and make it decent enough to read. There's little to no conflict, kind of overly dramatic and everything is resolved with good communication because Lance and Keith are healthy boysTM

Halloween was Lance's favorite night of the year. He would never fail to make plans with his family and coordinate with his friends weeks before the end of October. He felt obligated to make it fun for those he surrounded himself with. He’d recalled a time in elementary school when the kids deemed him the honorary “Halloween King” because of his abounding love for the holiday. Almost nothing could hinder him from celebrating. So, one could imagine his severe disappointment when he woke up with a piercing headache and a sore throat on the morning of the 31st.  
  
Lance slowly sat up in bed. His vision darkened and his head spun. His brain felt as if it was drumming against his skull. When he tried to swallow, he had to force the saliva down his throat--which seemed to be lined with fuzzy needles--with an exceeding amount of effort. Lazily, he turned to his nightstand to pick up his phone and attempted to blink away his exhaustion to check the time. He groaned when his phone read 9:14. He'd slept through three of his alarms and missed first period.

 

His family would have been gone. Both of his older siblings lived in their own apartments and his single mom would have driven his younger sister to school. His mom must have been at work by 8:30, like she had told him she would be. Lance figured that she’d been too busy this morning to not notice whether or not he had left for school. He grunted, trying to think of what he was going to say when he called to inform her that he was ill. He didn’t want to make her feel guilty for not noticing him not wake up and he definitely did not need her worrying over him.   
  
Unlocking his phone, he noticed 4 missed calls and 11 unread messages. He cleared the call list, noting two from his boyfriend, Keith, and the other two from his best friends, Hunk and Pidge. When he tapped into his messages he opened Hunks’ first:   
  
From hunkalicious: <<Hey, dude. Keith waited for you for 15 minutes this morning. Also we're having a quiz in biotech.>> 7:58am   
  
From hunkalicious: <<I hope you aren't purposely skipping to plan for Halloween.>> 8:36am   
  
He groaned. Although he wouldn’t be opposed to skip class to prepare for the holiday, he was more than slightly offended that his best friend would just assume he sloughed. He looked back down to open the texts from Pidge:   
  
From pidgey: <<laaaaance>> 7:15am   
  
From pidgey: <<hey, where are you??? your bf is low key worried and it's borderline heartwarming and it's kinda scary. get here before class starts>> 7:18am   
  
From pidgey: <<hunk just texted me and said you aren't in biotech. we wouldnt put it passed you to slough, ya know lmao>> 8:15am   
  
Lance coughed out what was supposed to be a sigh. _Pidge too?_ He thought his friends would have had a lot more faith in him. He expanded his messages from Keith:   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml:  <<good morning. I hope you got your statistics homework done last night, instead of planning for Halloween.>> 6:33am   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<hey, i'm here. you better almost be ready.>> 6:57am   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<do you not need a ride? your mom's car isn't here and I honked and knocked on your front door and no one answered. did you finally get your car fixed and drive it or is it still in the garage? i'm gonna head to school if you don’t answer soon.>> 7:13am   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<hey, you aren't at the school, yet. where are you???? i'm kind of concerned.>> 7:23am   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<hunk and I have been in biotech for half an hour and you still haven't shown. i'm going to head over at lunch.>> 7:57am   
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<please answer soon, I swear if your phone is off and you're just staying home to prep for tonight...>> 8:48am   
  
Lance violently coughed into his elbow and began texting his friends back:   
  
To hunkalicious: >>hey, man, sorry, I just slept in, I'll probably head over soon.<< 9:19am   
  
To pidgey: >>calm down. i'm not that irresponsible. i'm not skipping, just accidentally slept thru my alarms.<< 9:20am   
  
To mr. grumpypants/loml: >>hey, babe, sorry for making u worry. i slept in. I'll try to head over after i get ready.<< 9:20am   
  
As Lance stood up, the dizziness he had felt before washed over him, again. When he blinked away black spots that were clouding his eyes, everything on his bedroom walls was slanted and warped in his drowsy vision. He hastily attempted to shake away the nauseating feeling just as his phone began to vibrate in his hand. His fingertips felt uncomfortably tingly against the buzzing and he looked down to see that he was receiving a call from Keith.   
  
He trudged over to his dresser as he swiped his thumb to answer it, "Hello?"

 

He hated how scratchy and muffled his voice sounded in his pressure-filled ears. He held the phone away for a quick second to cough and clear his voice. Lance stripped down to his boxer briefs and dug through his drawers, half-forgetting what he was meant to get out of his dresser. He moved at a snail's-pace to rummage for a fresh pair of underwear. Shivers began to take over his naked body and he realized, then, that he was probably in no condition to attend school today.   
  
"Lance, what the hell? We were all starting to panic."   
  
"Shouldn't you be in class right now? Why are you calling me?" Lance pulled a clean pair of underwear out of his top drawer and dragged himself out of his room.   
  
"I asked for a bathroom pass." Keith mumbled.   
  
"For me? Babe, that's so sweet." Lance's voice cracked when he tried to sound cheery and he stifled a cough.   
  
Keith sighed. "You sound like you just woke up. I hope you didn't stay up too late."   
  
Lance slowly walked down the hall and, though his journey to the bathroom was merely a few seconds, it felt as if he’d been walking for hours. The dizziness in his head only increased with each movement he made. He twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, "I only stayed up until--"

 

Lance didn’t get the opportunity to finish his sentence. Everything appeared to switch to slow motion as he, instead, stepped on a towel that was left on the bathroom floor--possibly by his little sister--which seemingly got caught under the door as he was shutting it. He took a lazy step forward, his right foot still half-raveled and the door still anchoring the towel in place. He found himself stumbling forward as the tip of his toes yanked against the fabric. He tried to grope for the edge of the counter, to regain his balance, but in his hazy state, overestimated the distance between the counter and his hand. Falling quickly, he slammed his nose and brow bone into the edge of the granite, his phone tumbling to the floor in the process. He dropped to the tile and groaned, feeling something hot drizzling from his nose and a throbbing in his head that was significantly worse than when he had woken up. His ears began to ring violently and when he tried to open his eyes, the fluorescent light forced them shut again. He could faintly hear Keith chanting his name from his phone and he blindly patted for it around his head, mentally praying the screen didn't crack.  
  
He whined into the speaker once he brought the device back up to his ear.  
  
"Lance? What happened?" Keith spoke in an anxious tone.  
  
"M'Keith..." Lance mumbled. Tears pricked his eyes and he hacked out a couple of wet coughs.   
  
"Lance?"   
  
"I fell. 'M bleeding." He slurred, trying not to exhale a shaky sob. He felt so unironically dramatic in that moment. His day was beginning to develop into a nightmare, which felt somewhat appropriate, given the date.  
  
Keith's voice rose, "You _fell_? How? Lance, I'm coming over."   
  
"No, 'm fine. Please just stay in class. I can take care of m'self." Lance hung up and shakily stood, the blood from his nose trickled down his jawline and curled artistically around the curves of his neck. A few drops splattered to the floor, like a moment of light rain. He trembled; a combination of the overabundance of adrenaline coursing through his veins and the fever he assumed he had developed through the night. When he yanked an unnecessary amount of toilet paper from the roll and held it to his nose, he felt like he was going to drop dead. He leaned over the sink and, in his blurry vision, examined his forehead.   
  
A giant, purple bruise began to form over his eyebrow. His face, which normally shone a caramel brown, was washed out and glistened with sweat. The grey circles under his bottom eyelids made his blue eyes feel cold and distant. He weakly slid back down to the bathroom floor and sat against the wall, shivering vigorously. He wrapped the towel on the floor around his shoulders and felt his phone buzz next to his bare thigh. It was another text from Keith.  
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml:  <<hey, I just called shiro. since he doesn't have work until 11, he's heading over. I told him where you guys hide your spare key, in case you don't answer the door. I don't really appreciate you hanging up on me, btw. why is it that whenever I need help, you're there in an instant, but i'm not allowed to leave class to check up on you? that's kinda BS if you ask me.>> 9:40am   
  
Lance groaned. What a great Halloween this was turning out to be. He woke up feeling like the human embodiment of pestilence, managed to injure himself and then, consequently, pissed off the love of his life. He was tired and as angry as he was, found himself dozing off against the bathroom wall, violent chills racing down his spine and toilet paper still clinging to his nose.  
  
                        ∆∆∆  
  
His nap was short-lived, as he heard the doorbell going off ten minutes later. He couldn't find it in himself to get up, however. Shiro could just use the spare key, like Keith had told him to. Lance heard a pause in the knocking and listened to the fumbling of a key, twisting into the doorknob, as Shiro unlocked it with a gentle click.   
  
"Lance?" Shiro's deep voice rang out. Lance was grateful that he’d come. He didn’t feel like being lectured by his friends or boyfriend for being so careless. Besides, Shiro was a nurse, he could take care of Lance better than anyone.  
  
"I'm in the upstairs bathroom." Lance tried to shout as loud as he possibly could and cringed when his voice came out sounding like a prepubescent zombie.  
  
He heard Shiro come up the stairs and he knocked on the half-closed door. Lance whined out an exhausted "come in." He couldn't bring himself to care that he was in nothing but boxer briefs with a white towel wrapped around him. Shiro saw nude people come into his clinic all the time, anyway.   
  
Shiro nudged the door open and crouched down next to him, "Hey, bud, what happened?"  
  
Lance rested his head back against the wall, "I woke up with a headache and sore throat."  
  
"That’s vague. Where'd the bloody nose and massive bruise come from, then?" Shiro questioned.  
  
"I was really dizzy and kind of distracted, 'cause I was on the phone with Keith. I tripped on a towel and hit my face on the bathroom counter." Lance panted, suddenly out of breath.

 

Shiro pressed his non-prosthetic hand against Lance's cheek, "You're burning up. Where does your mom keep your thermometer?"  
  
"In the cupboard above the toilet." Lance gestured, weakly.   
  
Shiro stood up and retrieved it then returned to sit next to Lance. He removed the cap and Lance flinched when the cold tip was pressed into his ear.   
  
"Keith seemed pretty upset when he texted me. He told me you hung up on him."   
  
Lance glanced up at him and twitched at the straining in his eyes, "I just wanted him to stay in class. I know he's been struggling this term, so I don't need him worrying about me."   
  
Shiro pulled the thermometer out of his ear when it beeped, "You're at 103.4 degrees. That's high, Lance. Not only that, but you may have a slight concussion from hitting your head."   
  
Lance whined again and tore the bloody tissue from his nose, "I hate this." He knew he must have looked pathetic and miserable.   
  
"I know, buddy. It's never fun being sick."   
  
"It's not just that! I'm going to let everyone down tonight, because I'm sick and have a possible concussion."  Lance trembled, "I was supposed to take Eileen trick-or-treating this evening while mama attended her Halloween party at work. Then, I was supposed to drive her to my stupid papa's house and go back to your house so we could have our Halloween get-together. But, I screwed everything up, like always." Tears began to run down his cheeks, "And now Keith's pissed off at me, because I'm a selfish boyfriend. It's my job to make everyone have a good Halloween. I made the plans and bought candy and everything!"   
  
Shiro wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Hey, Lance. Everything's going to be alright. It's okay to rely on other people, you know? Keith's the exact same way and that's why he's upset with you. He _wants_ you to rely on him, because he knows what it feels like to be independent for too long and then suddenly have someone so caring to depend on. He's not angry, he's just worried."   
  
Lance sniffed and rubbed at his sore nose, "Okay."   
  
"How about you take a cool shower and I'll make you something to eat, okay?"   
  
Lance smiled, softly, "Just heat up a can of soup. I don't trust you to make anything from scratch."   
  
Shiro chuckled, "What? You trust Keith in the kitchen, but not me?"   
  
"I have to trust Keith," Lance weakly stood up with Shiro's help, "He's my babycakes."   
  
Shiro laughed, "Don't refer to him like that in my presence ever again, mister."   
  
Lance coughed, "m'kay."   
  
Shiro shut the bathroom door and Lance jumped into the shower. Shiro told him to take a cool shower to bring his body temperature down, but he couldn't handle the aggressive shivering anymore, so he was content with taking a steamy one. He sighed in partial relief as the hot water pelted his numb skin and he lazily leant up against the marbled wall. He watched the blood from his nose twirl down the drain through half-lidded eyes.   
  
Lance thoroughly dried himself off when he was finished, hating the feeling of his vapour-and-sweat-slicked skin. He slipped his clean underwear on and chucked the other pair in the laundry hamper. He then dragged himself back to his bedroom where he pulled a baggy hoodie, he'd borrowed from Keith a couple of weeks before, over his head and stepped into a fleece-lined pair of sweats. When he clawed through his top drawer, he found his favorite pair of fuzzy socks and slipped the multi-colored fabric over his ice-cold toes.   
  
He felt slightly better after getting showered and clothed. He stuffed his phone into his pocket as he held onto the railing to venture downstairs. Shiro had poured him a bowl of soup and laid out a sleeve of saltine crackers next to his bowl. Lance sat down at the table and Shiro set a glass of ice water and four Advil in front of him.   
  
"Thanks, Shiro," Lance moaned in content when he took a bite of the steaming soup.   
  
Shiro ruffled his damp hair, "I have to head to work. You'll be okay by yourself for a while?"   
  
Lance nodded in reply, as he leaned forward to take another bite of the soup. The heat of the broth soothed the rawness in his throat. Shiro threw Lance a smile and headed towards the front door to slide his shoes back on, "Make sure to take the Advil when you're done eating. Ice the bruise on your eyebrow and get a cold washcloth to lay across your forehead. You need to get some sleep."   
  
"I will. Thank you, _dad_." He joked, but smiled, gratefully.

 

Shiro shook his head at him and opened the front door.

 

"Shiro, will you call Keith and tell him not to come at lunch time? And could you please ask him to pick Eileen up from school to drop her off at my dad's house? I feel bad, because I was supposed to take her out, but I know if I tried driving in my current condition, I’d probably get myself killed."

 

"Sure, buddy. Get some rest." Shiro closed the door and Lance heard his car pull out of the driveway moments later.   
  
Once he was done eating, he took his pain relievers like he was told. He then pulled a gel pack out of the freezer and lazily walked upstairs to get a wet washcloth. Once he laid down in his bed, he felt his phone buzz.  
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<shiro told me you're sick and have a concussion. what doors do I pick Eileen up at?>> 10:56am  
  
To mr. grumpypants/loml: >>yeah, i'm going to take a nap. feelin drowsy. the north west doors. and could you please tell her sorry for me? i really wanted to take her trick or treating tonight<< 10:57am  
  
From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<sure. get some rest.>> 10:57am  
  
To mr. grumpypants/loml: >>thank u. sorry for not telling u, i just didnt want u to worry. I love you.<< 10:58am  
  
Lance set his phone on his nightstand. Before Keith could respond, he had already fallen asleep, a deep snore emanating from his throat and a new haze clouding his mind.  
  
                         ∆∆∆  
  
Keith grew anxious when he hadn't heard anything from Shiro after he'd sent him over to check on his dumbass boyfriend. He wished he had Hunk with him in second period. Hunk always knew what to do to calm any of them down under situations of high-stress. Keith bounced his knee up and down as he was proof-reading his peer's essays, only feeling slightly guilty when he knew he was skipping over grammatical errors and misplaced sentences that hardly made sense in the context of the subject.  
  
Keith’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket just as the bell that let the class out went off. He aggressively shoved his papers into his backpack, not minding if they got slightly crinkled, while answering the call from Shiro.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey, Keith."  
  
"Did you check on Lance?" He knew that his rushed and panicked tone did nothing to hide his concern. Admittedly, it wasn’t hiding his aggravation, either.  
  
"Yeah, he's fine, but not doing too hot." The background noise that the speaker picked up made Keith conclude that Shiro had left Lance’s already and was probably driving to work.  
  
"What happened to him?" Keith pressed.  
  
"He has the flu and he fell and hit his head and nose on the bathroom counter, so now he has a slight concussion."  
  
"Why the hell didn't he tell me he was sick?" Keith growled.  
  
"Keith, you know Lance." Shiro sighed, "He doesn't like to worry people, and despite how clingy he is in his normal state, he likes to do things on his own when something personal happens."  
  
"I know," Keith pouted, "I'm just upset. I want to help him if I can. I'm going to head over there at lunch time."  
  
"No, Keith, you're going to stay in school." Shiro continued before Keith could protest, "Lance wants you to pick his sister up from the middle school and drop her off at their dad's."  
  
"Ugh," Keith groaned, trying to suppress the annoyance that was nagging at him in the back of his brain, "I don't mind picking up his sister, but why do I have to go to their dad's? He hates me. And Lance."  
  
"You don't have to go in," Shiro said, "Just drop her off."   
  
"Fine." Keith replied with reluctance.  
  
"And Keith," Shiro spoke reassuringly, "You need to be better at communicating with your boyfriend. He started crying, because he thinks you're pissed at him. He won't rely on people unless they're understanding with him."  
  
"I don't really need a lecture." Keith groaned, "And Lance isn't some fragile object. I know he can handle things by himself, despite all of our protesting."  
  
"That's not what I'm saying. Just let him know he can lean on you, yeah?"  
  
"Okay," Keith spoke quietly, as he sat down in his third period class. His previous irritation had begun to seep out of his aura until he felt somewhat more relaxed, "Thanks for looking out for him."  
  
"Of course." Shiro’s gentle smile could practically be heard on the other line, “I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up.  
  
Keith texted Lance about his sister and hardly had to wait for a reply. Once he told Lance to get some rest, he set his phone down to retrieve his binder and pen from the endless depths of his disorganized backpack. His phone dinged again and he picked it up.  
  
From Lancey Lance: <<thank u. sorry for not telling u, i just didnt want u to worry. I love you.>> 10:58am  
  
He blushed and smiled softly, not noticing Hunk had sat down next to him. He typed a response.  
  
To Lancey Lance: >>It’s alright, Lance, you don’t have to be sorry. /I’m/ sorry if I seemed pissed. I love you, too. ( ˘ ³˘)♡<< 11:00am  
  
He shoved his phone into his pocket and Hunk nudged him, smirking, "Was that Lance?"  
  
Keith nodded, "Yeah, Shiro called me and told me he was sick. Apparently he has a concussion, because he fell and hit his head on the counter earlier when he was on the phone with me."   
  
Hunk's smirk dropped and his eyebrows crinkled in concern, "Is he okay?"  
  
"He's fine enough to not go to the hospital, but I still wanna keep an eye on him, you know?" Keith tapped his fingers against his thigh with a wave of nervousness.  
  
Hunk nodded, strongly patting Keith’s shoulder in a comforting manner, and their teacher walked in to start the lesson.  
  
                        ∆∆∆  
  
At lunch time, it took Hunk and Pidge, and Shiro's earlier phone call, to keep Keith from bailing on school to check up on Lance. They distracted him by buying him a pack of vanilla wafers and a chocolate milk from the vending machine. It was his favorite snack, no thanks to observing Lance consume the two during lunch once at the beginning of junior year before they started dating. The sweet combination was enough of an impulse control to settle his anxiety a tinge.  
  
When Hunk and Pidge went to the lunchroom to get sandwiches, Keith headed up to Lance's locker to check for any A-day homework his boyfriend may have left in there. He wanted to be as helpful as possible and getting Lance his homework was definitely bound to win him some brownie points. Nibbling on a wafer in his left hand, and his bottle of milk shoved under his armpit, he opened the locker in two tries--after he subconsciously put in his own combination the first time instead of Lance's. He hadn't seen the inside of Lance's locker in a couple of weeks and Keith found it plastered with new photos of him and tons of neon sticky notes. Along the walls of the locker, Lance had stuffed half-finished art projects for his AP class and Keith noted the horrifying amount of crumpled sketches Lance must not have deemed good enough for grading. Keith grunted in frustration at that and turned back to examine the photos.

 

Lance had too many pictures of Keith, it was beginning to make him blush in embarrassment, although he knew no one came up to that particular hall for lunch. He ducked his face to hide the redness that was washing over his cheeks, anyway. He smiled at the picture that was taped in the center of the inside of the door; one of Lance kissing him on the cheek.  
  
Keith read some of the sticky notes. A few of them were simple notes Keith had put on his homework or references he'd given him, such as: "Here, hope this will help. <3" or "try reading this, this time, you dumbass." Other notes were to-do lists. There was a particularly large plaster of notes regarding plans for Keith's birthday including one that read "MAKE THIS KEITH'S FAVORITE BIRTHDAY. NO EXCEPTIONS." Keith chuckled when he remembered back to the previous week. Lance and their friends had really made it an amazing birthday and he was so grateful that he loved such incredible people.   
  
Another large cluster of notes caught his attention. When he peeled the top one off, he noticed they had Lance's Halloween schedule and plans written down. Once Keith skimmed through the dramatically large pile of sticky notes, he'd realized just how much effort Lance had put into planning their party tonight. A bright pink one that he pulled from the bottom of the pile read: “Keep yours and Keith’s matching costumes a secret for as long as possible!” Keith snorted at the absurdness of his boyfriend. He smiled softly when he read an orange one at the very end of the pile that said: "This is mine and Keith's first Halloween as a couple--make it special!"   
  
He felt a pang in his chest when he acknowledged Lance's current circumstances. He knew how much his boyfriend loved Halloween and even though Lance was sick, Keith didn’t want to let him down on his favorite night of the year. Slamming the locker shut and forgetting all about the homework, he rushed down to the lunchroom to find Hunk and Pidge.   
  
Pidge looked up at Keith as he sat down at their usual table in the far corner of the lunchroom, trying to force another vanilla wafer down his throat. Pidge cocked an eyebrow, "What's got you in a hustle?"   
  
"Lance." Keith spoke around the cookie in his mouth.

 

“Keith, we already bought you vanilla wafers to get you to stay for lunch. Lance can wait until we get out of school for you to check up on him.” Hunk sighed, while taking a bite of his sub.

 

“No,” Keith drawled, “I mean, I think we should do something for Lance tonight.”  
  
"What do you mean?" Pidge asked.   
  
"Halloween is Lance's favorite night of the year. I don't want it to be ruined for him. He’d be borderline devastated, not to mention the fact that he’d be whining about missing out on it until next Halloween." Keith rolled his eyes at the thought, "He worked really hard to plan our group party and now he can't even set any of it up. I think we should do something for him."   
  
Hunk bit his lip, "I get where you're coming from, Keith, but Lance can't overexert himself, and it's not like we can give him a bunch of candy. Sugar will only make him sicker."

 

“He doesn’t have to have candy or go anywhere.”

 

“Well, what did you have in mind, then?” Hunk asked.  
  
"Well," Keith began, "Corn chowder bisque is his favorite thing to eat during the fall, right? What if we had a soup and hot chocolate hang out? We could just get together, dress up in our costumes, eat and watch a couple of cheesy horror films. I mean, it's not nearly as much as what Lance had planned, but I think he'd at least appreciate it."   
  
"Let's do it." Pidge spoke without hesitation, "He kind of deserves it. Especially after planning your birthday party last week."   
  
Hunk grinned, "Okay, I'll make the bisque after school, then."   
  
"I'll find the horror movies." Pidge smirked, deviously, "Keith, I think you should go to his house and check on him. I know he mentioned that his mom won't be home until one in the morning. I guess she has a Halloween party until midnight at work. Knowing the kind of son Lance is, he probably insisted that she attend."   
  
"Okay, I was going to head over once I picked up and dropped off his little sister at their dad's house." Keith took a sip of his chocolate milk.

 

“Oh no. You have to go _there_?” Hunk nearly choked.

 

Keith nodded, solemnly, “Unfortunately,” he took a gulp, “I’m fine with it as long as he doesn’t see me.” Hunk and Pidge nodded in response.

 

"Should we get Shiro and Allura in on this?" Hunk asks, after a few seconds of contemplative silence.

 

"Nah," Pidge steals the chocolate milk from Keith and takes a chug, "I think their back-up plan was to go to Matt's party on campus. So, that's probably what they'll do."  
  
Keith shrugged, "Less people is probably better, anyway."  
  
"What time should we plan for?" Hunk smiled.  
  
"I'd say 7:30." Keith pondered with a serious expression, "We want Lance to be in bed by midnight, since he's sick."  
  
"Then it's a plan." Hunk said.  
  
                          ∆∆∆  
  
When fourth period got out, Keith was relieved to have finally gotten through the day. It felt unnecessarily long with all the stress Lance had unintentionally put him under. He waved to Hunk and Pidge as he got into his car, ready to drive over to the middle school a few miles east.  
  
He pulled up to the school where Lance told him what doors his sister usually came out of. He felt odd parallel parking his sports car in between two minivans which each contained a white soccer mom, one reading a book, the other scrolling through her phone. He knew he'd have to get out to stand next to his car, aware Eileen wouldn't recognize it without him in plain sight. Emerging from and leaning against his car made him feel even more out of place, as his black skinny jeans, leather coat and sloppy ponytail didn't exactly scream "subtle." He received a sketchy look from the woman in the minivan behind him and suppressed the urge to flip her the bird.   
  
When the bell rang and the middle schoolers started flooding out, Keith realized they were all in costumes and mentally pleaded Eileen wouldn't be unrecognizable in her getup. He stood there for five minutes, intently observing the crowds for Lance's little sister. He spotted her moments later, wearing a Wonder Woman costume and socializing with a crowd of friends.  
  
He internally screamed, not knowing what the most appropriate way to get his boyfriend's little sister's attention would be. He didn't want to shout her name. Even though he was close enough to hear some of _her_ conversation about how incredible so-and-so’s costume was, he knew calling out to her would draw even more attention to himself. He stood there, stiffly, impatiently waiting for her to glance up.  
  
When she finally did look up, it was after she'd seemingly turned her phone on and scrolled through it. Her eyes met Keith's and he weirdly brought his hand up to throw her a wave. She beamed and her friends looked in his direction. He twitched under the extra sets of eyes.  
  
"Who's that?" one boy asked.  
  
Eileen picked up her backpack, "That's Keith, my brother's boyfriend."  
  
"He's so cool," one of the girls spoke in awe.  
  
"I told you," Eileen grinned, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."  
  
Once she’d bid her farewells, she ran up to Keith and gave him a hug. He grunted in surprise and stiffly patted her back. She drew away, timidly, and smiled at him, "Sorry, I always give Lancey Lance hugs when he picks me up."  
  
Keith smirks at the nickname, "He texted you, right? Told you what was going on?"  
  
Eileen climbed into the passenger seat as Keith climbed behind the steering wheel, "I just turned my phone on. All his text said was that you were picking me up. He's probably just preparing for Halloween, right?"  
  
Keith bit his lip, "Actually, um, he got really sick and hurt himself. He's in bed right now. He asked me to take you to your dad's house."  
  
Keith glanced at Eileen and watched her smile drop. She turned towards him, "So, he can't take me trick-or-treating?"  
  
Keith realized that this girl was only in sixth grade and that it was probably one of her last years to go door-to-door for free candy, "Lance told me to tell you that he was really sorry. Your dad is going to take you, instead."  
  
"Oh," Eileen tapped on the vinyl, quietly, "That's going to be weird."  
  
"Why?" Keith asked, "Lance told me you have a good relationship with your dad."   
  
"Yeah," she drawled, "But I get mad at him sometimes. Every time I talk about Lance, he pretends like he doesn't exist. I feel bad."

 

Keith was aware of the circumstances. Lance's parents had gotten divorced two years previous, after Lance had come out as bisexual. Apparently Lance's mom's support for Lance had clashed with his dad's hatred towards his son's sexual orientation and they couldn't come to a compromise. Lance blamed himself for their divorce, even though it was his dad's fault for being such an asshole. Keith knew their dad treated all of their siblings kindly and with respect, but hardly refused to acknowledge Lance.   
  
This had all happened before he and Lance had gotten together. Anytime their friend group had all hung out at Lance's house, his dad would send glares toward Keith, because he knew he liked boys. Lance would always tell him to ignore the dirty looks and the under-the-breath comments his dad thought he couldn't hear. Keith was angry, but he could take it. He'd dealt with his share of homophobic jackasses in his life.   
  
Lance was significantly more sensitive, however. It was hard for him to see someone who'd once shown him so much love unleash a suppressed monster of hate and anger toward his own son. He recalled all of their friends comforting a teary-eyed Lance after he had come out and bolted from his house. The six months after he told everyone he was bi and the family’s struggle through the divorce process were an awful time for Lance. None of their friends really knew what kind of things his dad had said to him that day, because it was such a touchy subject for Lance.

 

Keith remembered a conversation they’d had a few months previous, when Lance was having a particularly crummy day. His boyfriend had repeated to him some of the things his father said to him the night that he had come out. Keith remembered wanting to punch Lance's dad so badly in that moment. He'd still punch his dad, given the opportunity.  
  
Keith snapped out of his memory when he realized he'd left Lance's sister fidgeting in an intimidating, awkward silence, "You know Lance is strong. He doesn't take a lot of bullshit from your dad, anymore."  
  
Eileen stared at him, wide-eyed and clearly shocked. Keith nervously glanced at her, "What is it?"  
  
"Lance never curses in front of me," she giggled.  
  
"Shit," Keith's eyes widened, "No, I mean, erm, sorry. Don't tell your mom. She'll never want me over again."  
  
She chuckled, "Nah, she probably wouldn’t get mad at you. I think mama loves you even more than Lance."  
  
Keith blushed, "I don't think it's possible to love anyone more than Lance."  
  
"You're a good boyfriend to him, Keith." She grinned up at him, "And I think he's a good boyfriend to you, too. You're both nice to each other."  
  
Keith face was on fire. He didn't like to discuss such personal topics, "Oh... yeah?"  
  
She nodded, excitedly, "I like to see my big brother happy."  
  
Keith awkwardly coughed into his sleeve as he continued to drive toward Lance's dad's home. They sat in silence for a while. Keith looked over at the little brown-skinned girl for a millisecond and turned back to the road, "I like your costume, by the way. Wonder Woman is cool."  
  
She straightened up, proudly, "She is, isn't she?"  
  
Keith grinned.  
  
        ∆∆∆  
  
Keith double checked the address saved in his Google Maps and compared it to the house number on the mailbox. When Eileen spoke up to confirm it was the right house, he pulled into the driveway. She turned toward him, "Lance usually walks me up, but you don't have to. I know how my papa is." She tightened her hands around her backpack straps, "Have Lance text me when he's feeling better." She opened the door, "Thank you, Keith, please take care of my brother."  
  
"I will," he smiled, "Have fun tonight. Don't get too spooked."  
  
She grinned and shut the door. Keith made sure she got to the front door before pulling out of the driveway. He caught a glimpse of her dad smiling down at her and grimaced when he looked up and came into eye contact with him. His smile dropped and he sent Keith a nasty glare. Keith hurried away, determined to quickly get to his boyfriend.  
  
                       ∆∆∆  
  
Lance sleepily rolled over when he heard his phone vibrating somewhere near him. He figured it was Keith again and blindly groped for his phone in his bed sheets. Before opening his eyes to check the caller ID, he swiped to answer and put the cellphone to his ear.   
  
"Hello?" Lance mumbled.  
  
"Why didn't you drop your sister off?" Lance shot up when he heard his dad's gravelly voice.  
  
"I'm sick and I hit my head this morning,” he slowly spoke. “Didn't Keith drop her off?"  
  
"Yes, she got dropped off." He grunted.

 

"Good," Lance rubbed at his eye, remembering the bruise, and pain shot through his skull, "I'm glad she got there safely."  
  
"Safely? How could she be safe with that walking STD of yours?" He yelled.   
  
Lance froze, he was already shaky from his fever, but the anxiety of his current situation was getting to him, "Don't you dare call him that. Keith's never even had sex before." Lance cringed at himself, not enjoying giving out personal information regarding his boyfriend’s sexlife. He’d make sure to tell Keith later, not wanting the secrecy of the situation to eat away at him. The sudden sound of a timid knock and the front door squeaking open caused him to jump.   
  
"Lance?" he heard Keith call from downstairs.   
  
"Listen," his dad's voice was intense on the other line and rang in his ears, "I can tolerate you, but don't ever send him over to drop your sister off."   
  
Lance flinched, "Don't sound so condescending!"   
  
"I'll say what I please, especially since he was in the presence of my daughter! You should have driven her like I asked."   
  
Keith cautiously stepped into his room with a concerned expression, staring at him from the door frame.   
  
Lance clenched his sheets, "I'm not in any condition to drive! I have a concussion! Keith drove her over there safely, I don't see what the problem is!"   
  
"You're okay enough to yell at your father, aren't you? I'd deem that okay enough for you to drive!"   
  
"Oh, so now you're my father?" Lance rasped, "Wasn't it just last week you told mama that you weren't going to 'her son's' art exhibition, because you'd disowned me the second I came out?"   
  
"You have no right to speak to me that way!"   
  
"I do! In fact, I have every right. News flash, I'm a human being. Any ounce of humanity that you have has been reduced to that of a human dick. Eileen got there safely, make sure she has a fun night out! Don't call me again, unless you have a real emergency." Lance hissed, "And if you ever talk about my boyfriend that way again, I'll kill you."   
  
"I will call the cops--" Lance hung up before his dad could finish the hollow threat.   
  
"That jackass!" Lance cried out and angrily threw his phone across his room. Thankfully, Lance’s sickly toss was weak enough that it landed on the beanbag and not into his fishtank. He fell backwards and harshly combed his fingers through his hair, attempting to suppress the frustrated sobs that were escaping his lips.   
  
Keith walked over to the beanbag that he and Lance did an excessive amount of cuddling and making out on and picked up his boyfriend's phone. He then sat down next to Lance on the bed and rubbed soothing circles into his thigh. Lance's sobs sounded pained, as they were interjected by wet coughs and dry heaving every now and then.   
  
Keith pulled Lance up and into his chest. Based off of the floppiness of his limbs, he could tell his boyfriend was drained of energy. Lance seemed to calm down after that; took a few rattled breaths and scratched at the crusty feeling in his tear ducts. His nose had started running and Keith reached for the roll of toilet paper Lance had placed on the nightstand, to tear some tissue off. Lance smiled weakly at him and blew his runny nose, some leftover blood coming out onto the tissue.   
  
Keith gently examined the bruise on Lance’s brown forehead, barely tracing his thumb over it, "Rough day, huh?"   
  
Lance rested his head against Keith's shoulder and nodded, "What time is it?"   
  
"Almost 4." He replied, "How many hours of sleep did you get in your nap?"   
  
"About two and a half. I kept waking up. At one point, I felt like I was going to vomit, so I bolted to the bathroom and just dry heaved for two minutes. I was also worried you were mad at me and had a fever dream where you turned into a giant monster and ate me, so I woke up."   
  
Keith laughed, "I wasn't that mad, you know? I was just worried. You've had an awful day." He paused, "I mean, I _was_ a little pissed that you hung up on me and didn't tell me what happened in the bathroom and that you were sick, but I'll let it slide."   
  
Lance pulled back and huffed, "I'm sorry, babe."   
  
Keith grabbed his boyfriend's hand, changing the subject, "So, um, I was wondering where our matching costumes are. I still haven't seen them."   
  
Lance's eyes widened in panic, "Oh my gosh. I just about forgot that it was Halloween. How could I forget? That stupid nap made me forget my favorite day of the year." Lance paused, "Wait, you aren't planning on going to a costume party without me, are you?" Lance yanked at Keith's shoulders in a frantic manner, "Please don't go to a costume party without me!"

 

Keith grabbed his boyfriend's wrists, "Calm the hell down, Lance!" He scoffed, "I wouldn't go without you. I just wanted to see them."  
  
Lance relaxed and coughed into his elbow, "Oh, sorry." He rubbed his head, flinching again when he forgot about the bruise being there, "You technically weren't supposed to see them until tonight, but since all my plans are screwed up anyway, I guess it doesn't matter if I show you now."   
  
"Hey," Keith squeezes his hand, aggressively, "It matters to me. I really want to see them. I know you put a lot of work into making them."   
  
Lance shrugged and wobbled when he stood up to walk toward his closet. He turned around before opening the bifold doors, "Baby, you have to close your eyes."   
  
Keith smirked, "Fine." He squeezed them shut.   
  
"No peeking!" He heard Lance open the closet doors and could make out the sound of the hangers clacking against the rail.   
  
"Okay, open them!" Lance's scratchy voice shouted.   
  
Keith opened his eyes and stared at the two costumes that Lance held out in front of him. Keith was about to explode at how ridiculous his boyfriend was. The awkward chuckle that emanated from his throat quickly evolved into full-on laughter.   
  
"Lance, what the hell?" He laughed into his palm, "This is the most extra thing you've ever done!"   
  
"Hey, I know, but, it’s--it's a Keith combo!" Lance pouted, "You like them together, so I thought, 'if you like these two together and you like you and me together, then why not combine you and me with your favorite snack?'"   
  
“You know I only like wafers and chocolate milk together so much because I saw you eating it all the time when I was pining after your ass.” Keith bit at his lip, "So who's the vanilla wafer, me or you?"   
  
"You are. Because you're pale as hell, but you have, like, nice, creamy, vanilla skin." Keith blushed at the weird compliment. "I'm the Nesquik chocolate milk, because it's brown and beautiful. You know who else is brown and beautiful? Yours truly." Lance smirked and coughed into his elbow, again.   
  
Keith gazed at his boyfriend, incredulously, "I can't believe I told your sister that it's impossible for someone to love anyone more than you."   
  
Lance stared blankly at him for a few seconds, as if he was processing the comment, then his face turned a dark shade of red and he opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out, though, as he was sent into another fit of coughs. He dropped the costumes in the process. Once he was finished hacking up his lungs, he looked up, wheezing, "You can't say shit like that to me! Especially when I'm ill! That's not fair. I'm at a disadvantage, here."   
  
Keith stood up and grabbed his boyfriend's face. Lance whined. Keith gave him a devious smile, "Lance, you are the most beautiful boy and I love you more than anything."   
  
"Keeeeith!" He wailed, "Shut up!" He nuzzled his flushed face into Keith's neck, "I love you, too, but don't target me when I am so weak and vulnerable."   
  
"Okay," Keith snickered, "Then, I won't express my love for you anymore tonight."   
  
Lance perked up, "Hey! No! That's not what I said."   
  
Keith raised a teasing eyebrow at him, "Oh, yeah?"   
  
"In fact, I changed my mind," Lance declared, "You must shower me with nothing but your greatest affection for me for the rest of the night. It'll cure me." He cleared his throat, "Although, kisses should probably be off limits. I don't want to get you sick."   
  
Keith leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth.   
  
"Keith!" Lance cried, "What did I just tell you?"   
  
Keith pressed another kiss into his lips and grunted, "I don't care if I get sick." Keith gave him another, and another, until Lance finally gave in and kissed him back. "Your breath kind of smells," Keith breathed against his mouth.   
  
"Keith, shut up." Lance chased his boyfriend's lips and continued to kiss him. He slowly pushed Keith up against the wall, suddenly feeling enough energy to stay up. Not that he had to use much to stand, anyhow. Half of his body weight was lazily draped against his boyfriend.

 

Lance sloppily pulled away to kiss Keith's jaw and left a trail of butterfly kisses all the way down his neck, where he idly pushed Keith's leather coat off of his shoulders and nibbled at the skin. Keith hummed in giddiness and Lance breathed against his collarbone, "Seeing you has been the best part of my day." Lance pulled away, still partially in his lovestruck daze, "Even though I ruined everything tonight, I'm glad you're here." Lance smiled, weakly, "I hope everyone finds something fun to do in place of the plans I had. Even you, if you want. Go to a party and have fun."  
  
Keith softly gazed at him, "You know I wouldn't have fun without you." He brushed back Lance's hair, "I think Shiro and Allura are going to Matt's party, though."   
  
Lance nodded, "What about Hunk and Pidge?"   
  
Keith didn't know whether their plans with Lance were meant to be a surprise or not, but he didn't feel particularly up to facing the wrath of Pidge and Hunk's motherly scolding if they were. He shrugged in response, "I'm sure they'll be fine. You know how innovative they are. They're bound to find something to do on Halloween night."   
  
Lance sighed, "You're right. I still feel guilty, though."   
  
Keith scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous. None of this is your fault."   
  
Lance yawned, ignoring Keith's statement, "Can we sleep for a little bit longer?"   
  
Keith huffed, moderately irritated that Lance had brushed his comment off, "I guess." He lead Lance to the bed, "I'll go trade out your ice pack and re-soak your washcloth."   
  
"Thanks, babe." Lance wrapped the blanket around himself.   
  
Keith trekked downstairs to trade Lance's soft gel pack for a frozen one. Lance had left his dirty soup bowl and a half-empty sleeve of saltines on the table. Keith rolled his eyes and cleared the dining table. He then returned upstairs and entered the bathroom to soak the washcloth Lance had had spread across his forehead. He noticed Lance had left blood on the floor and sink and searched for some cleaner and a cloth underneath the sink cabinets. He quickly wiped up the spots and hung up the towel that was left on the floor.   
  
When he returned to Lance's bedroom, his boyfriend was staring at his phone. Keith laid down next to him and rested the washcloth over his forehead. Lance gave Keith a miserable smile of gratitude.   
  
"What's wrong?" Keith asked.   
  
"My dad is texting me disgusting messages." Lance grimaced.   
  
Keith gazed at Lance's soft, distraught features. Somehow, even when he was exhausted and ill, his boyfriend preserved his beauty. He didn’t understand how anyone could hurt someone so gorgeous. He brushed his thumb along his bottom lip, "About your dad; I don’t know what he was saying, but thanks for defending me on the phone earlier. You didn't have to, but it sort of makes me feel validated."

 

“I literally told him I’d kill him if he talked about you badly,” Lance deadpanned.

 

“Yeah, that’s romance in my eyes,” Keith smirked.  
  
Lance huffed out a laugh and kissed Keith's thumb, "I'd do anything for you, sweetheart." He hesitated, “Although, I did tell him something a bit personal about you before you came in the house.”

 

“What do you mean?” Keith’s eyebrows folded in concern.

 

“Well, he called you something really bothersome relating to you having an STD.” Lance stared sternly into Keith’s eyes, “And I know you haven’t exactly told a whole lot of people about your asexuality, but I panicked and on instinct screamed at him and told him you’ve never even engaged in sex before.” Keith gave him a blank stare and Lance continued, “I’m sorry for saying that to him. I know he’s not worth it. I just hate it when people say awful things about you.”

 

Keith exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, “You don’t have to ramble, Lance. I’m not mad. I know you were just trying to have my back and I appreciate that more than anything else. Yeah, I know I haven’t come out as asexual yet, but, honestly, I don’t care what that man thinks about me. He doesn’t know me.”

 

“Damn. You sure know what to say when I’m thrown into a sea of anxiety and pure dread,” Lance wheezed and kissed the back of Keith’s hand, “I love you, sweetie.”  
  
Keith cringed at the pet name, but appreciated the tender gesture. Lance’s phone buzzed again, repetitively, indicating he was receiving a call. Lance stiffened.

 

“You don’t have to answer him, you know.” Keith continued to caress Lance’s cheek.

 

Lance glanced at his phone screen and breathed a sigh of relief, “It’s my mom this time.”

 

Lance answered the call, “Hey, mama.”

 

“Mi hijo, I’ve been getting messages from your father. What happened?” Lance’s mom’s voice sounded panicked.

 

“So, he’s been harassing you, too, huh?” Anger traced Lance’s tone of voice.

 

“Why did Keith drop your sister off? You were supposed to take her out tonight.”

 

Lance sighed, “Mama, I got really sick. I couldn’t even go to school this morning. I was scared of driving in my condition, so I texted Keith. I would have had to drop her off in Keith’s car, anyway. Mine needs repairs, remember? I promise he got her to papa’s safely.”

 

Keith hissed under his breath, “Lance, tell your mom about the concussion, too. She’ll get pissed if you don’t.” Lance pretended to ignore him.

 

“I don’t doubt that Keith got her there safely, but you’re _sick_?” she yelped, worriedly, “I should have checked on you this morning. Do you need me to come home?”

 

“No, mama,” Lance chuckled, pressing a cough into his pillow, “Shiro came in to check on me earlier. Keith’s here, now. You should stay at the office and have fun.”

 

“Keith’s there?” his mom asked, “Can I talk to him?”

 

“What?” Lance squawked, his voice cracked thanks to his sore throat, “Why?”

 

“Just let me speak with him, son,” his mother spoke sternly.

 

Lance handed the phone to Keith, “My mom wants to talk to you,” he yanked the phone back when Keith went to reach for it and spoke in a hushed tone, “And don’t you dare tell her about my concussion!”

 

Keith grabbed the cellphone and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend before he spoke.

 

“Hello, Ms. Reyes.”

 

“Keith, my boy, thank you for driving Eileen to her papa’s today and thank you for taking care of my son. Is he doing fine?”

 

“You’re welcome, ma’am.” Keith paused and glanced at Lance, “Yes, he’s fine. Although…” A devious smile began to form on his lips.

 

Lance’s eyes widened in panic and he mouthed what Keith made out to be _“don’t you dare, Kogane.”_

 

“The main reason why Lance was in no condition to drive today was because he fell and hit his head, which resulted in a bloody nose and a concussion.” Keith belted out.

 

There was a pause of silence. Lance stared in shock, almost unable to believe that his boyfriend would commit such an act of treachery. Lance’s mom seemed to have drawn a blank, too, as if she couldn’t wrap her head around her very defiant son not informing her of his condition. The stunned silence was soon broken by simultaneous shouts from both Lance and his mother.

 

“Keith, you traitor!” Lance screeched.

 

“What! A concussion? Why did that boy not tell me? He should have called me immediately. What was he thinking?” Lance’s mom sounded more annoyed than angry, which is what Keith was hoping for. It always brought Keith amusement to see his boyfriend subjected to his mother’s lectures. “Keith, sweetie, can you put Lance back on, please?”

 

“Yes, ma’am, I will.” Keith smirked and handed the phone back to Lance, “She wants to speak to you, _honey_.”

 

“I don’t want to talk to her now!” Lance screeched in protest, “She’s going to lecture me!”

 

“Too bad,” Keith grinned, “Should have thought about that when I told you to tell her about your concussion.”

 

Lance pouted and wrenched the phone out of Keith’s hand. The glare he flashed at his boyfriend only received him a teasing chuckle.

 

∆∆∆

 

After Lance had received a satisfying lecture from his mom and reassured her that he’d be fine for the night, he began to doze off. Keith, however, could not fall asleep. The Halloween plans he and his friends had made were distracting enough, but the sickly snores and stuffy breathing jetting from Lance were enough to cause Keith to get up from the bed. He didn’t leave the room immediately, however. Not without pushing a swift kiss to Lance’s feverish cheek.

 

Keith ventured downstairs, where he checked his phone. It was only a little bit passed five and he hadn’t received any Halloween-related updates from Hunk or Pidge. The anticipation of everything was giving Keith jitters that he felt he needed to release. The garage seemed like a good place for relieving the excess adrenaline in his body.

 

He flicked the lights on, which made a low buzzing noise that would have been eerie, had the sun been down, yet. His eyes immediately landed on Lance’s car, which he remembered needed a repair in the coolant reservoir and transmission. Since Lance hadn’t gotten it into an automotive shop, yet, he decided to begin working on it, digging through the garage to make sure he had the right tools and sealant. He had done repairs on Lance’s car before, resulting in him accidentally forgetting some of his things in their family’s garage. He’d also deliberately left things, knowing he’d just have to come back and make another fix. Lance had been told to just trade it in, but being the outrageous teenager he was, found too much sentimental value in it, given it was his first car.  

 

An hour passed, and Keith’s phone begun to buzz. His face and hands had become spotted with black grime and he used a dirty rag to wipe his fingertips. He tapped the screen to answer the call and rested the phone between his ear and shoulder so that he could scrub his hands more thoroughly.

 

“Keith!” Hunk’s voice boomed at him from the other end of the line.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I need you to bring me a can of corn,” his voice sounded frantic.

 

“What?” Keith questioned, “Why?”

 

“Well, I thought I still had some in my pantry and when I looked, there was none. Then I thought, ‘hey, no big deal, I’ll just check in the freezer for frozen corn.’” Keith could hear a chopping sound, “Well, I don’t have any corn in there, either! Keith, I can’t make _corn_ chowder bisque without corn!”

 

“Okay, calm the hell down. Why can’t Pidge bring you a can of corn? She literally lives six houses down from you.”

 

“There is no way that her family will have any. Do you see how many times Colleen restocks groceries per week? Pidge does a swell job cleaning the fridge and pantry herself. How do you think it goes when _Matt_ comes home from his dorm? It’s a nightmare!” Hunk said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

 

“Fine.” Keith sighed, “I’ll check to see if Lance’s family has any here and if not, I’ll make a run to the supermarket and bring you some.”

 

“You lifesaver!” Hunk rejoiced, “Hurry, though. We’re supposed to all be at his house by 7:30, remember?”

 

“Yes, Hunk, I know.”

 

“Good. See you soon.” Hunk’s line went dead and Keith locked his phone.

 

When he began to clean up the organized mess he’d made surrounding his boyfriend’s car, he heard the downstairs door that enters to the garage creak open. Keith swiftly turned to see his boyfriend gazing at him with drowsy eyes.

 

“Hey, babe,” Lance yawned, “What are you doing down here? I heard you talking. Were you on the phone?”

 

Keith smiled at his sleepy boyfriend, “I was fixing your transmission, since you clearly haven’t gotten that done yet.” Lance let out a weak “hey” in protest, “And I was talking to Hunk. He needs me to stop by his house real fast.”

 

“Why?” Lance wraps his arms around Keith’s shoulders and sniffs.

 

Keith bit his lip. He couldn’t tell Lance about the surprise. He gently broke from Lance’s grip and pulled away to lead him inside the house by the hand. He walked to the front door and began slipping his shoes on.

 

“It’s about his and Pidge’s new Halloween plans. He just needs me to pick him up a bag of candy, or something, and bring it over.”

 

“Well, I have bags of candy. I bought some last week when I was preparing for our party.” Lance suggested, “You can just take those over to him.”

 

“Ohhh,” Keith drawled, trying and failing to think of a quick backup excuse, “Um, that’ll work. Thanks.”

 

Lance gave him a suspicious look, “What’s going on?”

 

 _Shit_ , Keith thought, _Lance is too good at reading me._ “Nothing, he just needs me to bring some over, that’s it.”

 

“You want to hang out with them tonight, don’t you?” Lance pouted.

 

_Oh. Thank goodness. I’m safe._

 

“What?” Keith let out an internally rehearsed squawk, “No, I want to spend time with you tonight. I just...he needs my help.”

 

“Then why can’t he get Pidge to help him?” Lance proposed.

 

“Pidge won’t answer his phone calls.” Keith lied.

 

“What? Why wouldn’t she answer the phone calls of the person she’s supposed to be hanging out with on _Halloween night_ ? It’s, like, six o’clock. _Ideally_ , they should be ready by now.”

 

Damn. Why did Lance have to make everything so complicated? “I don’t know, Lance, but I promise I’ll just be in and out. It’ll take me forty-five minutes tops.”

 

Lance gave Keith a pouty look, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hang out with them tonight and, you know, _actually have fun_?”

 

Keith pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek, “There’s no one I want to hang out with more tonight than you.

 

“Okay,” Lance didn’t look entirely convinced, “But, I swear if you’re gone for longer than forty-five minutes, _I’ll know_ , Kogane. _I’ll know_ and then you’ll have to suffer my wrath.”

 

“Know what?” Keith’s smile wavered and he flashed Lance an incredulous look.

 

“That you’ll want to hang out with them more than me and enjoy whatever new Halloween plans they may have.” Lance stuck his tongue out.

 

Keith playfully shoved at his shoulder, “Shut up. You’re ridiculous.”

 

“I’m being serious. Please hurry back.” Lance coughed out a chuckle and opened the door for Keith, “Turn the front light off. I don’t really feel up to answering the door for trick-or-treaters tonight. The illness is coursing through my veins, I can practically sense it spreading to _you_. I don’t need any little kids obtaining this deadly disease.”

 

“But you’re fine with me obtaining this deadly disease, right, Mr. Dramatic? I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to at least crack a few jokes,” Keith switched the front light off and planted another kiss on Lance’s cheek. He almost turned to leave, but quickly remembered he had an act to keep up. Lance had suggested he take the bags of candy he’d already brought, “Do you want to grab those bags of candy for me, please?”

 

“Oh, yeah. They’re up in my room. Just give me a second.” Lance took off up the stairs and Keith chuckled when he heard Lance stumble and shout out a dramatic “Ow!”

 

As he waited, Keith contemplated whether or not he would have enough time to look for canned corn in the kitchen before Lance came back downstairs. His mind was soon made up, however, when his boyfriend came back with two grocery bags filled with packaged candy. Keith mentally sighed when he realized he’d have to make a stop at the supermarket, after all.

 

∆∆∆

 

When Keith arrived at Hunk’s house, he’d already made his grocery store run. He had gotten sidetracked when he remembered they were supposed to have hot chocolate with the soup and wanted to buy some just in case no one had any. This resulted in finding himself unable to choose a single flavor and, due to his indecisiveness, bought peppermint, salted caramel and hazelnut. As he was escaping the aisle, he came across the selection of teas. Coming to the conclusion that it was probably not best for Lance to drink hot cocoa, as overindulgence of sugar was bound to make his illness worse, he decided to purchase him some herbal teas to drink, instead. This all, naturally, put Keith at 35 of 45 minutes of Lance’s personal “ _get back here or suffer the consequences_ ” mark.

 

Keith quickly ran up the steps to Hunk’s house with the candy bags and corn in his left hand. He pounded on the front door until Hunk answered, looking as frantic as Keith felt.

 

“Oh, good.” Hunk sighed in relief, “I’m glad it’s only you. I’m the only one home and running back and forth between the kitchen to make the soup, and the door to hand out candy, is anxiety-inducing as hell.”

 

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Just put the bowl of candy out so that you don’t have to answer the door.

 

“Are you kidding?” Hunk scoffed, “I’m not giving those little heathens that level of power. You might as well just hand one kid the entire bowl and say ‘here you go, see you next year. Or not, ‘cause you’ll probably still be in a sugar-induced coma from all this candy, by the time next Halloween rolls around.’”

 

Keith shrugged, “Whatever.” He handed the bags to Hunk, “I got you two cans of corn, ‘cause you didn’t specify how much you needed.”

 

“What are the giant bags of candy for?” Hunk questioned.

 

“I had to lie to Lance and told him that you needed the candy, because you and Pidge had new Halloween plans.”

 

“Why’d you lie to him?” Hunk panicked, “He’s probably wallowing in a pool of misery from how much you’ve lowered his expectations regarding his _favorite night of the year_.”

 

“I lied to him to keep it a surprise!” Keith objected.

 

“Who said it was going to be a surprise?”

 

“I don’t know. I kind of just assumed?” Keith fussed, “I was afraid Pidge would go ballistic if I had ruined it potentially being a surprise.”

 

“You...make a good point.” Hunk agreed, “I’ll let this whole lying to Lance thing slide.”

 

“Thanks, Saint Hunk.” Keith glanced at the time on his phone, “Awh, crap.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s already 6:42.” Keith complained, “Lance gave me 45 minutes to get back to his house. It takes me 15 to drive back from here and I’ve already been gone for forty.”

 

“So?” Hunk said, “He probably wasn’t too serious.”

 

“Hunk,” Keith cried, “He said if I wasn’t back there in forty-five minutes, I’d have to suffer his wrath. Lance can be scary when he’s insecure and uptight.”

 

“Keith,” Hunk giggled, “dating Lance has turned you into a soft boy.” Keith gave him a deadly glare, “What happened to when you were broody and edgy? You used to sit in your car alone and study while listening to Dance Gavin Dance and that other band all the time in the parking lot at school. Now you’re just adorable and romantic.”

 

“Hey!” Keith blushed, “I think I’ve maintained my gritty appearance pretty well, thank you very much.” He crossed his arms and looked down, “I still listen to those bands in my cat, anyway. I just have Lance in my passenger seat now. Listening to post-hardcore only enhances my capability to emote. It makes me realize I actually have feelings!”

 

“That is the most emo thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

 

“You wouldn’t say that if you actually sat down and made personal connections with the lyrics and complex instrumentals. Music is powerful!” Keith whined.

 

“Oh, boy. You sound like a misunderstood scene kid.” Hunk laughed and Keith turned to start leaving, “Just hurry and get back to Lance. I have a soup to finish in just under forty minutes.”

 

Keith shook his head and shouted back to Hunk, “Don’t forget to wear your costume! And tell Pidge to bring hers, too!”

 

∆∆∆

 

Lance was pretending to be asleep on the couch by the time Keith finally got back. He knew his boyfriend had well passed his 45 minute mark and he wanted to know why. As far as he was concerned, if Keith was going to sneak around and act secretive, then two could play at that game.

 

He hoped Keith would receive a phone call from Pidge or Hunk so that he could eavesdrop on the conversation, but Keith was much stealthier than that. Even if he’d received a call, he would have escaped to another room to speak with them. When Keith walked in and sat on the edge of the couch, Lance worked his hardest to maintain his sleeping act. His composure nearly shattered once Keith had placed his cool hand on his cheek.

 

Keith muttered under his breath, “Awh, Lance. Your fever hasn't broken, yet?”

 

The act was so gentle and vulnerable that Lance nearly choked on his own saliva. He was glad that Keith couldn’t tell he was actually awake. Lance had always been better at reading people’s actions and emotions. Keith’s social deduction skills, only seem to activate once someone is on the offense and looks like they want to fight something.

 

He suppressed a whine and wished he could mentally Google how to hide a blush when you're face to face with your significant other. Specifically, face to face and pretending to be asleep.

 

Keith moved his hand from Lance’s cheek to his forehead and combed back his hair with his fingers, “You need to take better care of yourself. You're always so selfless, it’s alright to be selfish once in awhile.”

 

Keith’s voice was so heartening and soft, Lance had to suppress another squeal. When his boyfriend bent down to place a gentle kiss on his forehead, however, he knew he was gone. There was absolutely no way that he could keep up his sleeping facade.

 

His eyes snapped open and he grabbed Keith’s wrist. Keith’s expression shifted from soft to shocked.

 

Lance shot a glare at his boyfriend, “You're a little shit. You know that, right?”

 

“ _What_?” Keith spat, his adorable and oblivious vulnerability shattered. He was his normal self again, based on his narrowed eye, “Were you pretending to be asleep?”

 

Lance tried to hide the embarrassment that had lathered itself across his face, “Yeah, I was.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you're hiding something from me and I hoped I would overhear something that would clue me in on what the hell it is.” Lance pouted, grumpily.

 

Keith deadpanned, “Are you kidding?” Lance shot him an insulted look and Keith tore his wrist out of his grip, “Lance, you're being silly.”

 

“No, I’m not Keith!” Lance turned over to cough into the cushion of the sofa, “I hate it when you hide things from me! You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me. All you have to do is tell me that you want to go out with Hunk and Pidge tonight! I’ll be fine with it.”

 

Keith could tell that his boyfriend had grown genuinely upset, even though he, personally, found the whole conversation somewhat outrageous. “Lance, it’s not about me wanting to go out with them!”

 

“Then what else could it possibly be?” Lance huffed, “Because you keeping secrets from me is only making my already-shitty day even shittier!”

 

Keith blinked at him, trying not to take offense to that, “Don’t try to make me feel bad.” He stood up from the sofa and crossed his arms, “Manipulation isn't healthy communication, Lance. You're only going to realize how overly sensitive you're acting once I reveal what I’m hiding, anyway.”

 

“I wasn’t--” Lance cut himself off and exhaled, “I wasn't trying to be manipulative,” he reached for Keith’s hand and slowly pulled him out of his guarded position. Keith hesitantly returned next to him on the cushion, “Babe, I just don't want to be a burden to you. I want you to have fun tonight.”

 

Keith’s lips turned up at the corners, “Lance, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but, Halloween is _your_ favorite holiday. Not mine. Honestly, if it weren't for you, I wouldn’t give two shits about it.”

 

Lance gasped in fake offense, “First of all, mister, Christmas is my favorite holiday. Halloween is only my favorite _night_ of the year. Second of all, _how dare you_?”

 

“Holy crap, let me finish,” Keith deadpanned, “I don’t know how many times I’ve said this or will have to say this, but you have never been a burden to me and never will be. If I’m going to be here all night with you, then it’s because I want to and I think that it’ll be fun, not because you're weighing me down. Like I said earlier, you can rely on me. Just as much as I know I can rely on you.”

 

Lance sighed, almost dreamily, “You have always been the more pragmatic one of us two.”

 

“No,” Keith said, “I think we exercise our emotions and logic about the same. One of us is just usually more level-headed than the other at specific times.”

 

“You're right,” Lance agreed, massaging circles into Keith’s hand, “You can be super emotional and impulsive sometimes.”

 

Keith scoffed.

 

“And moody and stubborn--”

 

“Okay, that’s enough--”

 

“And a complete rage machine, but--”

 

Keith abruptly smacked his hand over Lance’s mouth, which vibrated when Lance chuckled into it. Keith grinned, but his playfulness died down when a massive, wet sneeze erupted from Lance’s mouth and into his palm. He lurched back and stumbled off of the couch.

 

“Lance, that’s disgusting!”

 

Despite Lance’s apologetic stare, a weak giggle emanated from his throat, “I’m sorry. I sincerely didn't mean to do that. It just spawned from my lungs out of nowhere.”

 

“Yeah, well,” Keith stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend, “Now I have to go thoroughly disinfect my hands.”

 

“We were literally making out earlier!” Lance shrieked in mild defense, “When we were laying in bed, I _kissed your hand_. How is that any better than this?”

 

Keith was already walking toward the kitchen to wash his hands, “Kissing you is rewarding. Getting a hot shower of mucus and saliva on the palm of my hand is far from my personal level of enjoyment.” Keith looked over his shoulder when he switched the tap on at the sink, “And don’t act like you wouldn’t be raging at a mile a second if I’d done this to you. You would have taken it a lot worse.”

 

“Touche, asshole,” Lance pulled his phone from his pocket and opened an unread message. He complained out loud, “Speaking of assholes.”

 

Keith dried his hands with a chartreuse tea towel, “What?”

 

“My dad texted me again,” Lance threw a leg over the back of the couch, “It was a very forced apology that my mom probably made him send.”

 

“At least that indicates that you’re done dealing with him for the day,” Keith attempted, “Don’t pay him any attention. He’s not worth your time or energy.”

 

“Maybe I’ll just go to sleep. I know it’s only past seven, but I’m feeling the dread of the day catch up to me.” Lance threw an arm over his eyes and scrunched his nose, “You can come up and sleep with me, if you want.” Lance lifted the arm and side-eyed Keith, “Although, it is a school night. You might want to just go home.”

 

“Wait, Lance. Don’t go to sleep, yet--” Keith was broken off by two rapid vibrations emitting from his phone. He tore his phone from his pocket and unlocked it to read the new texts.

 

From Pidge: <<HEY, WE’RE ALMOST AT LANCE’S>> 7:23pm

 

From Pidge: <<LMAOOO,,, I T EXTED THAT TOO LATE, WE’RE HERE>> 7:23pm

 

Lance sat up on the couch and stretched his arms, “And just _why_ can’t I go to sleep, yet?”

 

“Hang on.” Keith held up his index finger to hush Lance.

 

There was a sudden ring at the doorbell which received an obnoxious wail from Lance, “ _Trick-or-treaters_? I gave all of my candy to you to give to Hunk.”

 

Lance began to stand, planning to inform the children that he didn’t have any candy and that he was sorry, but Keith pushed his shoulder down frantically, “Wait, no, honey, I’ll answer the door.”

 

“ _Honey_?” Lance made a horrified noise. Hearing his boyfriend call him any pet name, that wasn’t in a sarcastic tone, was much too foreign to him.

 

Keith swiftly skid to the front door and was weary of Lance suspiciously watching his every move from over the back of the sofa. He glanced over his shoulder to narrow his eyes at Lance and turned back to the door to open it. Swinging the door ajar, Hunk and Pidge, decked out in costumes, threw him massive grins.

 

“Where’s the ill child?” Pidge peeked in and made eye-contact with Lance, who was sitting with his chin rested on the back of the couch and a confused expression drawing it’s way onto his face.

 

“What the heck are you guys doing here?” Lance rubbed at one of his eyes.

 

Hunk and Pidge smiled at him and merged into the house, “Well, Keith thought it would be a good idea to have a small Halloween get-together, since we couldn’t celebrate it with your original plans.”

 

“Oh.” Lance’s voice trailed off.

 

“Yeah,” Hunk continued, “So, I made corn chowder bisque, because we all know how much you like to eat soup in the autumn.”

 

“And I picked out a couple of cheesy horror films for us to all watch,” Pidge added, excitedly.

 

“And I, um,” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, “In my car, I have hot chocolate and tea that I bought. Though, hot chocolate might be off limits for you, because you’re still incredibly sick.”

 

Lance stared at all of them in awe, his mouth slightly open. When he spoke, it came out as nothing but a whisper, “You guys are the best human beings on this planet,” his voice cracked.

 

“Holy Hell,” Pidge shouted, “Are you going to cry?”

 

Lance stuffed his face into the couch cushion and with a muffled cry, hollered, “So what if I do!” He peeped his eyes out from where they were buried in the fabric, “I love you all, so much. I can’t believe I’ve been blessed with such amazing friends.”

 

“Well,” Hunk began, “You kind of deserve it. The party you planned for Keith’s birthday last week must have taken quite a bit of your time. It seemed like tedious work and it turned out to be spectacular.”

 

“And, well,” Keith added, “I saw your original Halloween plans on the sticky notes in your locker today. You put a lot of planning into it. This is the least we could do for the only official party planner committee member in our group.”

 

“Hey!” Pidge interjected.

 

Keith smirked at Pidge, “Yes, Pidge. That excludes you and Matt. All of your parties that don’t include Lance’s assistance have been utter disasters.”

 

“You’re bias, Keith.” She pouted and Keith shrugged in return.

 

“Keith may be bias,” Hunk spoke up, “But, I’m not. And I agree completely with Keith. Yours and Matt’s party plans have been a nightmare from day one.”

 

“Hunk! Not you, too.” She wailed, dramatically.

 

Lance was gazing up at his friends gathered around each other and bantering. A calm smile graced his lips as he watched them playfully argue. For one of the first times that day, he was starting to feel a little bit better. Although, he assumed it was all a psychological effect, based off of the warm feeling blossoming in his chest. The physical symptoms like the pounding in his head and the inflammation in his throat still continued to persist, despite the ecstatic emotion taking over him.

 

Pidge finally turned to him, “Okay, let’s eat and pop these babies into the bluray player!”

 

Lance smirked, “Nice costumes, by the way,” he hacked out a laugh, “I can’t believe we all have such lame costumes this year.”

 

“Um, excuse me,” Pidge snapped her fingers, “Mine and Hunk’s Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy costumes are prime. I bet yours and Keith’s are as underwhelming as both of your personalities are.”

 

Keith and Lance simultaneously gasped in fake offense.

 

Hunk and Pidge exchanged a high five and turned to Keith and Lance. “Go get your costumes on,” Hunk demanded.

 

Lance weakly pushed himself up from his sitting position and Keith grabbed his hands, “Let’s go.”

 

The two of them trekked upstairs back to Lance’s room, where they found the costumes on the floor where Lance had left them. Keith began stripping his clothes off while Lance dug through his bottom dresser drawer. He pulled out a pair of beige sweats and threw them at Keith.

 

“Those are for underneath your costume. Just so you don't look like you're naked under that vanilla wafer.” Lance smirked.

 

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Okay.”

 

Lance pulled his own pair of sweats out from his dresser; a blue t-shirt and bright yellow bottoms to match the Nesquik label on his own costume. He stood up and pulled his current sweatshirt off; the one Keith had left a few weeks previous. Just as he was about to slip the blue shirt over his head, he felt hot air ghost over one of his vertebrae and dry lips press into his skin. If Lance hadn't already been shuddering, that would have triggered it.

 

Lance inhaled, enjoying the feeling of Keith’s lips pressed to his back, “Sorry for earlier. When I said you were making my day shitty. I didn’t really expect the secret you were hiding to be a surprise for me. I guess I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.” Keith’s lips gently found the back of Lance’s neck, “If anything, you’ve only made my crappy day enjoyable. Thank you for planning this hang out. I love you, so much and I don’t deserve you.”

 

“Shhh…” Keith spoke serenely into Lance’s deltoid and ran his fingers up and down Lance’s biceps, “I love you, too.” For having such an aggressive personality, Keith sure was quiet and loving in intimate moments. After he planted a final kiss to Lance’s neck, he quickly pulled away so they could both finish getting changed. Lance melted, unable to suppress his giddy smile.

 

∆∆∆

 

Pidge snapped several pictures of them when they returned to the living room. She told them that they were truly as underwhelming as she had expected. Lance pouted at that and placed himself back in his spot on the couch.

 

After getting a few laughs out, Hunk travelled to the kitchen to retrieve bowls and dish out soup for all of them. Keith stepped out to snatch the hot cocoa and teas from the back seat of his car and when he came back in, ran upstairs to gather several blankets from the linen closet. He sped back downstairs where Hunk was beginning to place the steaming bowls of bisque on coasters on the coffee table in between their seats and the entertainment stand.

 

Hunk leaned over and ruffled Lance’s hair, nonchalantly observing his forehead, “Nice bruise, buddy.”

 

Lance smiled, tiredly, “Thanks, pal.”

 

Keith threw the blankets onto the couch and recliner (which he knew Hunk would nab), when Lance began to stand.

 

Keith placed his hands on either one of his boyfriend’s shoulders, “What do you think you’re doing?”

 

“I’m going to heat up the water and milk for the tea and hot cocoa.”

 

“No, you’re not,” Pidge stated, “You’re going to relax and not worry about anything. Keith can make the drinks.”

 

Lance slumped down into the corner of the sofa, again, “Fine.”

 

Keith and Pidge exchanged a smile of triumph. Hunk sat down in the recliner opposite the couch and laid the wool blanket Keith had thrown there on his lap. Keith escaped to the kitchen, where he spent approximately ten minutes making drinks for all of them. He was glad he’d grabbed the three flavors of hot chocolate, since he, Pidge and Hunk had all wanted different ones. After Pidge called him out for spending an extra amount of time making Lance’s drink “special,” he carried the mugs of steaming liquid into the living room and set them on the coffee table next to their bowls of soup.

 

“Baby?” Keith perked up even though he nearly missed Lance’s quiet request, “Can you hand me my soup, please?”

 

A loving smile painted itself on Keith’s mouth and he handed Lance the bowl of soup. Lance threw him an appreciative gaze and began to nibble on the chunks of potato that he fished out with his spoon. Keith placed himself flush against his boyfriend’s side, attempting to spread a massive, salmon-colored fleece blanket across the both of them with one hand and balance his own bowl of soup in his other.

 

Pidge planted herself on Keith’s other side and turned the DVD player on with the remote. When the title screen popped up, Lance groaned around the spoon in his mouth, “Insidious? Pidge, this isn’t cheesy. This is horrifying.”

 

Pidge shrugged, “The first one is pretty cheesy to me.”

 

“It’s scary!” Lance’s voice rasped when she played it, “This stuff is all too real to me.”

 

“Join me in my cult of supernatural and conspiracy followings, heathen.” Pidge smirked, pridefully.

 

∆∆∆

 

Lance made it through the first movie. There were some moments Keith noticed he almost drifted to sleep and other moments he was so tense with anxiety from the movie that Keith could feel it radiating off of him. By the time they had gotten through half of the second movie, they’d all emptied their mugs and their soup was long gone. Lance had fallen asleep against Keith’s shoulder.

 

They decided to stay up to finish the movie and when it ended, Hunk and Pidge offered to quietly load the dishes into Lance’s dishwasher. Keith protested at a barely-audible decibel, weary of waking Lance, but Hunk and Pidge insisted. Keith relaxed next to Lance and listened to his friends cautiously clinking dishes against each other and eavesdropped on their hissed banter.

 

He smiled. Although Lance had cut the night short by becoming completely comatose, Keith still considered the Halloween a personal success. He was glad he was able to do something for his boyfriend.

 

By the time Pidge and Hunk were ready to leave and had walked to the door, Lance had startled awake. He drowsily pawed at his eyes and groaned out a weak yawn.

 

Keith smirked down at him, “Hey, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are leaving.”

 

Lance gave him a quizzical stare, as if he was registering what his boyfriend had just told him and then nodded his head, “Okay.”

 

The two of them stood up and met their friends at the front door. Lance wrapped the both of them in his arms and squeezed tightly, “Thank you for this. You guys seriously are the greatest.”

 

Pidge gleamed up at him, “We’d do anything for you, man.”

 

Hunk grinned, “Yeah. We hope you get better.”

 

“Thanks. Me too,” Lance expressed tiredly. Hunk opened the door and they turned to leave, “Love you, guys.”

 

Hunk threw him an amiable look, “We love you, too.”

 

Lance and Keith exchanged silent chuckles with each other when they’d closed the door and could still hear Pidge’s voice ask, “Can I drive?”

 

Hunk replied in a nearly panicked yelp, “Pidge, no, that’s illegal still.”

 

∆∆∆

 

Lance and Keith folded the blankets together and restacked the scattered coasters on top of one another. When they finished, Lance stuffed his hands into the open sides of his chocolate milk attire.

 

“So,” Lance began with a cough, “Are you heading home?”

 

“I probably should,” Keith reached for Lance’s hand that was tucked in his costume, “It’s still a school night. Besides, your mom should be coming home soon and you should get some sleep. You look and sound wiped.”

 

Lance nodded and took in Keith’s tender expression, “Or you could stay,” Lance wraps his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders, “We could sleep in and skip school tomorrow. I didn’t finish my statistics homework, anyway.”

 

“Here I thought _I_ was the horrible influence,” Keith bit his lip and shook his head, lovingly, “I’ll walk you up to your room, but after that, I’m going home.”

 

Lance pouted, but agreed to the proposition, “Fine.”

 

Lance practically dragged Keith up the stairs and into his bedroom, despite Keith saying he was the one who was going to take him up. After Lance stripped shirtless and down to his sweatpants, he snuggled down under his comforter and Keith teasingly tucked him in.

 

“Do you need anything before I leave?” Keith smoothed Lance’s hair down with the back of his hand.

 

“No, thanks,” Lance wheezed out a cough, “You should go home and get some rest, too.”

 

“M’kay,” Keith agreed, “I’ll see you tomorrow after school.”

 

“Alright. Thank you Keith,” He watched as his boyfriend walked to his bedroom door and flicked the lights off, “I love you, loads.”

 

“Yeah,” Keith’s compassionate smile could practically be heard through the darkness of the room, “Happy Halloween, Lance. I love you, too.”

 

He silently closed the door and left.

 

∆∆∆

 

Lance awoke the next morning covered in sweat. Despite his fever breaking, he still had a headache and a sore throat. He rubbed at his forehead where his bruise was and dull pulse of pain shot through his skull. Coughing to attempt to clear the itch in his throat, he reached over to check his phone; a routine he’d grown accustomed to.

 

He immediately saw that it was a quarter to eight. He had two texts from Keith and one from his little sister.

 

From lil sis: <<hey, papa dropped me off at school. sorry for the stuff he was saying about keith yesterday. it was gross and embarrassing. otherwise, i had a good halloween. we stopped by nina’s and then went to alex's house. i told them you were sick and they jokingly said they’d have to move back in to take care of their baby brother lol>> 7:30am

 

Lance chuckled to himself.

 

To lil sis: >>eileen, don’t be sorry about what papa said. u have nothing to be sorry for. i’m glad u had fun last night. i’ll make sure to tell alex and nina that they i’d love to be pampered by them and would 100% love if they moved back in lmao.<< 7:47am

 

He wasn’t expecting a reply any time soon, so he opened his boyfriend’s messages.

 

From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<Hey, good morning. I hope you’re feeling better.>> 6:43am

 

From mr. grumpypants/loml: <<So, I’m not feeling up to school today (thanks to your horrible influence). I’m going to stop by your locker to bring you any homework you may have and come to your house.>> 7:32am

 

“Oh, boy,” Lance smiled, “Keith.”

 

A knock on his bedroom door startled him out of his love-struck haze and his mom pushed the door open, slightly.

 

“Lance?” she spoke, softly.

 

“Yeah, mama, I’m awake.”

 

She stepped into his room, “I’m about to head to work. Are you still feeling sick?”

 

He nodded, “Yeah, I think I’ll stay home to recover some more. First period has already started anyway.”

 

“Do you need me to get you anything?” she asked, “I’m sure you still have a headache from your concussion. Do you need pain relievers?”

 

“Mama,” Lance sent her a smile to reassure her, “I’ll be fine. You just head to work. Keith’s coming over to check on me, so you don’t need to worry.”

 

“After school?”

 

“No, in a few minutes.” Lance rubbed his neck.

 

“Please tell me he isn’t skipping due to your poor example.”

 

“Mama!” Lance complained, “I would never.”

 

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. A smirk found itself on her face, “Whatever you say.”

 

∆∆∆

 

Keith arrived a few minutes after his mom had left. He was grateful he was wandering around the kitchen when he showed up, due to Keith not being able to knock or turn the doorknob as a result of his full hands.

 

He had stopped for coffee on the way to Lance’s house and hadn’t bothered shoving Lance’s homework into his own backpack, so he looked about ready to drop his entire life on the ground. Lance quickly jumped to assist him and Keith followed him into the kitchen where Lance set the tray of coffee on the bar counter. Keith slapped the papers down and slung his backpack over one of the barstools.

 

“Awh, man,” Lance beamed, “I can’t believe you stopped for Starbucks, too! I don’t deserve you.” He swiftly kissed Keith’s cheek and took a sip of his latte.

 

Keith pulled his own drink out of the cardboard tray and took a sip, “So, you look like you’re feeling a lot better this morning.”

 

“Yeah, it must have been the Halloween thing you guys organized for me last night,” Lance responded, “The wholesome experience cured me and added ten years to my lifespan.”

 

Keith snorted.

 

“But, for real, I still have a piercing headache and my throat still feels like Satan is living inside of it and is attempting to tear it apart at the seams.”

 

“That’s…” Keith raised a brow and took another sip of his coffee, “A really traumatizing image.”

 

Lance nodded in agreement, “So, what do you want to do today? We have the whole day to spend together.”

 

“We,” Keith gestured to the backpack, “Are going to make sure you’re caught up on school.”

 

“Boy, what the hell?” Lance whined, “I’m still physically, mentally and emotionally recovering from my deathly illness and you wanna throw this at me?”

 

“Yep,” Keith popped the ‘p’ sound, “So, let’s sit down, get comfortable and I’ll help you with your physics and statistics. I’ll even help you choose an AP art project to submit, since you seem to be struggling with that, as well.”

 

“Listen, young man,” Lance smirked, “You’re the one struggling with grades this term. Why’d you even skip school today? That’s the whole reason why I told you not to come _yesterday_.”

 

“I’d do anything for you,” Keith mocked Lance’s voice, “I’ll make sure I’m doing my schoolwork, too.”

 

“Okay,” Lance plopped himself on the barstool next to Keith, “I have a proposition.”

 

“Shoot,” Keith crossed his arms and peered at Lance through half-lidded eyes of pure cynicism.

 

“How about we spend an hour snuggling and being cute boyfriends,” Lance began, nonchalantly avoiding eye contact, “And then we can study and do school shit.”

 

“A half hour.” Keith deflected.

 

“No, an hour.”

 

“A half an hour,” Keith insisted.

 

“Fine,” Lance threw his hands in the air, “You win this time. A half an hour.”

 

Keith began to walk out of the kitchen.

 

“Where are you going?” Lance yelped, panicked and dramatic as usual.

 

“To the couch,” Keith deadpanned. He’d reached his limit on Lance’s ridiculousness for the day, “I thought you wanted to cuddle and do cute boyfriend shit.”

 

“I can practically feel your love for me curing my deadly illness,” Lance grinned, giddily, and stood up to follow Keith to the living room.

 

“That’s nice, because I can practically feel you spreading your ‘deadly illness’ to me.”

 

“Shut up and cuddle with me.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes and took his boyfriend’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I proofread this so many times that I eventually gave up proofreading once I added, like, the last two sections to the fic. I'm sorry if it's mediocre at best lmao


End file.
